Animal Humane Society Before and After Grand Reveal and Adoption Event

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Roeshel

Helloooo, DIY friends! I’ve just returned from an awesome packed few days where I partnered with Purina Cat Chow in assisting with a fun makeover of the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, MN. Exciting and so rewarding!

The Purina Cat Chow “Building Better Lives” program is committed to helping improve the lives of cats across the country by supporting 50 cat-focused shelters nationwide – one in every state! – and donating a generous $275,000 in renovation and adoption support, product and monetary donations as well as a possible $50,000 donation to The Petfinder Foundation, for a total donation of up to $325,000. Wow! Purina Cat Chow identified three of the participating 50 shelters for on-site makeovers of their cat facilities valued at $50,000 each or $150,000 total. The makeovers include custom changes and upgrades to meet the specific needs for each facility. Bri and I were so excited to lend a hand!

The work in progress and awesome team effort:

Purina Cat Chow, a DIY blogger, a skilled contractor and awesome volunteers…we did it!

Ready for some before and after shots of the cat colony room designs? Let’s go!

before

after

Stairs leading up to a shelf that sits level with the window gives cats a better view. Glass walls give potential pet parents a ‘showcase’ view.

3D hexagon/honeycomb cubbies are fun and interactive for the cats and a clean modern fit for the adoption center’s new look.

before

after

Three cat towers reach to the windows for lounging in the sun and bird watching.

before

after

Stairs to a cat walk give the cats a better view and showcase the frisky felines in the adoption center.

from outside the window

I love the cat wall murals, don’t you?

Easy reach cat toy storage for visitors…

The cats are loving the new environment…

So many sweet cats looking for forever homes.

And the entire adoption process has been streamlined so that it will feel less like an interview process and more like a conversation. Those looking to adopt will be in love with the center’s changes too.

The Grand Reveal Party and Adoption Drive started with a ribbon cutting ceremony and provided tours, a vintage photo booth, DJ, giveaways, cupcakes and beverages, balloon animals, face painting, food trucks and TONS of super cute adoptable cats and kittens. So.much.fun!

Purina Cat Chow believes every cat deserves a forever home. The “Building Better Lives” program helps local cats find new homes at all 50 of the brand’s shelter partners.

How can you help? Purina Cat Chow will donate up to $50,000 to The Petfinder Foundation if from now until Sept. 2, at least 1,500 stories are shared with the brand’s social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) using the hashtag #myrescuestory. This donation will be used to support 50 Petfinder.com shelters to help support future cat adoption fees. Find out more about the Building Better Lives program at Purina Cat Chow.

Thanks SO much to Purina Cat Chow for sponsoring/inviting me to participate in this amazing opportunity to help sweet cats find forever homes and for all of the friendly volunteers and staff from the Animal Humane Society for their assistance and guidance, my daughter and assistant, Bri, for all of her help and support, along with one super skilled contractor, Tim Pond and his assistant, for his brainstorming and building genius.

Cat Colony Room Designs

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Roeshel

It’s happening! Remember me telling you about the Humane Society makeover in progress with the Building Better Lives campaign hosted by Purina Cat Chow? (I shared about it here.)That’s where I’ll be this week, pitching in and lending a hand. Maybe a cat snuggle or two in there somewhere.

Oh goodness…the kitties! I want to pack them all up in my suitcase to bring home with me! So.much.adorable-ness. I can’t stand it!

I’ve had the pleasure of working on three cat colony room designs and what a fun challenge! The adoption center is the largest in the stage of Minnesota has been working to transform the institutional look to a more fun, modern, comfortable streamlined process. So exciting!

Here are the rooms before…

And here were some of the room designs…

Fun, right? I’ll be sharing which plans were approved. Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly and according to plan!

The grand reveal is coming up! Stay tuned!

There’s still time for you to share your rescue story. Just use this: #myrescuestory with a photo of your sweet pet(s) on social media. Here’s my rescue story. Once 1500 #myrescuestory tags are reached, Purina Cat Chow will donate $50,000 to Petfinder.com! Let’s help these cuties find homes!

#MyRescueStory {and Pet DIY}

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Roeshel

Meet: CocoRosie or as we call her, “Rosie”. An Italian Greyhound.

Ever since we lost our beloved doxie (Niski) a few years back, I’ve been wanting to open our hearts and home to another dog but just didn’t feel ready. I was just heartbroken. Even now when I think about her, my eyes tear up. I loved that little sausage dog.

When I truly began to settle down into my empty nest, it just felt too quiet. I mean, Lalka, our ragdoll cat is super sweet but most days, she has her own agenda, comes out of hiding or wakes up from napping and plays on her own terms. Cats are so independent. When she’s not bullying the dog, she’s hunting mice but mostly, she’s enjoying cat naps. Or as the baby of our family, looking to get into mischief.

Meet “Lalka”:

And a lot of times, she’s supervising my DIY projects…just to make sure I’m doing things right.

diy cat window perch

and always ready for her photo op….

DIY photo backdrop

Meet: Sneaks. And you may not know this, but we actually have a second cat. His name is Sneaks. He was rescued/adopted by my husband before we met. He is super sweet. He currently resides at my husband’s office (he loves people but isn’t a fan of other animals) so he has taken to welcoming and putting clients at ease. He takes his job as VP of public relations very seriously.

I started considering welcoming a dog into our lives again. However this time I knew I’d prefer to rescue an adult rather than adopt a puppy and so the hunt began.

I saw an Italian Greyhound who needed a home on Craig’s List. Unfortunately by the time I called, he already had a new home but it got me to researching the breed a little more. And the breed seemed like a good fit. It seemed as if we had a lot in common!

Italian Greyhounds:

Small in size.
Short fur/little shedding.
Imaginative.
Funny.
Snuggly and affectionate.
Gentle.

And after more research, I discovered a local/tri-state Italian Greyhound Rescue. After more thought, I finally applied. The adoption process was more than I anticipated with paperwork and a home visit but understandingly so. Our home visit was completed by a friendly IG loving/owning couple in our town who brought their little guy with them for us to meet. He was just so irresistible, the couple so kind and knowledgable. Before we knew it, we were approved!

I was looking for an adult female Iggy. It took about 3-4 months before we found her.

Lucky for us, that same couple that did our home visit began to foster Italian Greyhounds in our town and had a sweet little girl.

I was nervous. I was hesitant. Would I love a new dog as much as I loved our dachshund? Would she be a good fit to our laid back, boring life?

Name: CocoRosie

Breed: Italian Greyhound

Age: 8 years old

Weight: 10 lbs.

Favorite past time: Burrowing under the blankets, sleeping.

Then I met her. 10 lbs. of the sweetest little dog. Calm. Relaxed. So well behaved.

I fell head over heels in love with her. She is super sweet! Those big brown eyes. Her personality is so similar to our doxie…even down to the love of burrowing under the blankets! And guess what – she is perfectly house trained as well! Bonus!

And they aren’t kidding when they call IGs “velcro dogs”. If I’m on the couch, she’s on the couch. If I get up to go to another room, she follows. If I walk out the door, her nose is looking out the French door glass. If I’m on the patio, she’s right there. She never leaves my side.

Rosie has been enjoying some attention here at DIYShowOff…